THAT BAN LOCALS’

FLYING THE FLAG: Some local Jamaicans are being turned away from beaches on their doorstep due to the development of coastlines by hotels, villas and private residence (photos: Getty Images/Joey Nicotra on Unsplash) who live on the island should be given priority to purchase land in the country and then those in diaspora.

She said: “There should definitely be restrictions on how much people from overseas can buy. Otherwise they are going to continue to buy up all the beaches and all the land and before you know it, locals won’t be able to go and enjoy the beauty of the country.”

Dr Taylor also believes coastal land should be protected and kept in a trust for Jamaican people and not sold.

He added: “We are witnessing one of the greatest transfers of wealth of the country into the hands of private companies and that is almost criminal be- cause you will find one day the country is landlocked and you cannot buy it back because its multinationals that control it and they will ask a lot of money for it.”

Law

JABBEM’s campaign was created to challenge the Beach Control Act 1956, which Dr Taylor says is a “colonial era legislation” which “does not give Jamaicans any right to walk along the beaches, and no right to swim or really access it”.

“It is written in law and that law has been sitting there for the last 67 years and no government at all has made any amendments to make that wrong become a right,” he said.

He added: “We must rid our emerging constitution of all discriminatory laws that were colonial hand overs that still impact the psychological state of Jamaica.”

Dr Taylor says any hopes of removing the legislation will require court action. In the coming months, he says a legal defence fund will be set up and he is encouraging the Jamaican diaspora in the UK to help contribute to the fund and use their voices to call for “constitutional protection for beach access”.

He also urged the global Jamaican and Caribbean community to sign the online petition to protect beach access for Jamaicans. He says his campaign is clear, and he wants “general and unfettered” rights of access to all beaches in Jamaica and for that to be constitutionally protected.

He said now is the time for Jamaicans to have general rights of access which means

“non-conditional” or that “no permission is required”.

Dr Taylor is also a senior research and drug discovery scientist in Immunology and says since Jamaica’s Emancipation in 1838, there has not been any serious land reform, meaning, most of the descendants of enslaved Africans have “experienced being landless and homeless” as a result of colonialism.

He says as Jamaica moves towards becoming a republic, “internal reparations” of land rights for Jamaicans must also be put on the table to ensure the people can benefit from “development, wealth, power and independence” that comes with being a landowner.

‘LIFELONG DREAM’: Sinnead Jackson, from New Cross, south-east London, is of Jamaican descent. She wants to purchase land ‘back home’ but doesn’t know where to start

Dr Taylor said the beach access issue will also have a detrimental impact on Jamaica’s natural resources and environment.

He said: “The removal of all the forestry that exists on the coastline, which is a living ecosystem, has consequences on the biodiversity on the coast.”

Jamaica is the third-largest Caribbean island, with a total land area of just under 11,000 square kilometres.

According to the Jamaica Information Service, the government is the largest owner of land in Jamaica, with the majority of the land assets vested in the Commissioner of Lands.